this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2023
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Why do we associate nuclear radiation with a green glow? (kbin.social)
submitted 2 years ago by VoxAdActa@kbin.social to c/askscience@kbin.social
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So I just saw the YouTube video someone posted that showed nuclear reactors starting up, and the first thing I noticed was that they all glowed a very bright, pretty blue. I'm probably an idiot, but I was honestly expecting green, because of many years of dramatized depictions in popular media.

These are probably dumb questions, but:

  1. Why is it blue? As in, what's actually glowing in there, and why do we see it that way?

and

  1. Why do all the movies and comic books and video games go with green instead? Where did that come from?
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[–] Peruvian_Skies@kbin.social 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

Not really "faster than light", but faster than light in that medium. The phrase "faster than light" normally refers to moving faster than c, which particles ~~with rest mass~~ can't really do according to our current models.

[–] AshDene@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Which particles can't really do according to our current models.

Particles without rest mass can only move at c, not faster than c.

(Sorry for the nitpick)

[–] Peruvian_Skies@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago

I stand nitpicked and corrected. :)

[–] vegivamp 2 points 2 years ago

That was my point, but clearly not well formulated - thank you for clarifying.